Judge: Accused Rapists Should Be Kept Anonymous

We've reported time and time again about the crazy stuff male lawmakers say when it comes to women's issues. So, we were a bit surprised to read that some new controversial comments—this time about rape—are coming from a female judge in England.

Britain's high court judge Maura McGowan recently argued that men who are accused of rape should have the right to remain anonymous, in case they don't end up being convicted. Her thoughts on the issue apparently come after a number of falsely reported rape cases, in whish she believed men's reputations were put at stake.

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Of course, this is happening across the pond, not in the U.S., but we couldn't help but perk our ears up at this idea of accused rapist anonymity. To us, such a measure seems like it would further contribute to the existing stigma that women who accuse a man of rape are bad or wrong somehow. (According to statistics, out of every 100 instances of rape cases here in the States, only 46 are reported and only nine are prosecuted.)

To us, the women in these rape cases—as the survivors of such crimes—are just as, if not more, deserving of anonymity, too. Given how underreported rape still is, anything that would encourage victimized women to speak out and help put these perpetrators in jail is more important than protecting could-be-innocent dudes' reputations.